Current Events in October 2013

Internet phone company Vonage is buying Vocalocity, another Internet phone company, for $130 million. Vocalocity caters to small- and medium-sized businesses, and the theory is that being part of Vonage will help it grow.

Vonage CEO Marc Lefar said Vocalocity could benefit from Vonage's branding.

Could be. Out of curiosity, we checked our customer-review archives to see if any Vocalocity users ever wrote us to say “I’m not happy with the service here, but I’m sure it could benefit from Vonage’s branding.” But we found no complaints about Vocalocity at all (unsurprising in retrospect, since Vocalocity sells services to small businesses rather than everyday consumers).

Nor did we find any recent complaints about Vonage’s actual service—though we did find multiple complaints from people trying to cancel it. Like Molly W. from Salina, Calif., who wrote us in August to note, “Vonage does not allow the cancellation be done through their website or by e-mail” and “I asked if I will get partial credit since I only used 8 days in this billing cycle and [the representative said] no. She said that's in the contract. I have not had any company that does not issue partial refund when the service is cancelled during the billing cycle.”

Something similar happened to Molly’s fellow Californian "OS" from Northridge, who told us in September that, “It took forty minutes to close my account. And yes they charge fee in advance and they are not going to refund the charges.”

Three years

Jammyette H. of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, had Vonage for three years before switching to a different provider. Cancelling her account proved to be a long, drawn-out and extremely complicated process, and when she told us about it this August, she concluded, “I was happy with Vonage until this process of canceling and not being refunded for unused days.”

And we had several similar complaints from the past few months, all boiling down to “The service is okay but cancelling it is a nightmare.”

On the other hand, in August we also heard from Laurie B. in Fairfax, Va., who told us “After reading the horror stories all over the web about cancelling Vonage, I was prepared for the worst when I decided to cancel my service after 6 years as a customer with them.” Laurie was indeed prepared—before calling Vonage, she called her credit card company and arranged to cancel any further payments to Vonage.

Still expecting trouble, she called Vonage and spoke to a representative who verbally assured her that her service was cancelled, and she would soon get an email confirming this. “To my surprise,” Laurie wrote, “I received the email with a confirmation number in less than 10 minutes. The Vonage device stopped giving dialtone within 30 minutes of my call to them. So, it looks like everything went smoothly. I know that people have reported sometimes getting collection calls years later, so I intend to keep this email and my call recordings in case they are needed.”

So perhaps Vocalocity really will benefit by coming under the Vonage umbrella—so long as customers with stories like Laurie’s can become the rule, rather than the exception.

Since our name is Consumer Affairs rather than Corporate Affairs, we generally focus on offering [hopefully] useful advice to consumers, and let the marketing departments of wealthy multinational corporations fend for themselves.

But today we’ll make an exception just long enough to advise McDonald’s: “Your attempts to sell yourselves as the go-to place for health-enhancing, educational kidstuff are getting embarrassing.”

Get this: a couple weeks ago, McDonald’s announced that it would stop advertising soda as the default drink option for children’s Happy Meals. Instead, it would try pushing milk, water or juice alongside a new marketing campaign to include “packaging innovations and designs to generate excitement for fruit, vegetable, low/reduced-fat dairy, or water options for kids.”

That, presumably, has something to do with this week’s announcement that McDonald’s will start handing out children’s books along with its Happy Meals.

This won’t be the first time McDonald’s has used books as Happy Meal promotions. In the early 1980s they gave out Little Golden Books, fun titles like Tom and Jerry’s Party and The Monster at the End of this Book. We actually had some of these books as children, and remember them being extremely funny by childish preschool standards—though we’ll admit that, for parents, the books probably lose their allure around the 357^th or 358^th time your kid demands you read them.

Fortunately, that shouldn’t be a problem with the latest round of Happy Meal book offerings. Rather than already-popular children’s stories, this time McDonald’s will offer self-published books emphasizing the importance of good nutrition.

Here’s what Ad Age had to say about them:

One book, "The Goat Who Ate Everything," is about a goat who has a big appetite and struggles to eat well but eventually learns to eat smart. Another, "Deana's Big Dreams," shows how Deana, the world's smallest dinosaur, grew tall by eating well.

Maybe McDonald’s would be better off reprising its early-1970s “You deserve a break today” campaign and aiming it at kids, who already have their parents, teachers, school cafeteria billboards and First Lady Michelle Obama constantly reminding them to eat right and worry about getting fat. Sometimes kids deserve a break, too.

CNN's Wolf Blitzer is the latest to suggest that Obamacare should be delayed for a year. Why? Well, Blitzer, not previously known as a healthcare policy analyst, says the Healthcare.gov website works so poorly it needs to be taken apart and rebuilt.

"They had three years to get this ready. If they weren’t fully ready, they should accept the advice Republicans are giving them, delay it for a year, get it ready and make sure it works,” Blitzer said in a recent broadcast that reported on problems with the site.

Blitzer's comments ignore the fact that Healthcare.gov is the default site for 36 states like Mississippi and Virginia that chose not to set up their own health insurance exchanges. 

The experience has been different in New York, California, Illinois and other megastates that put ideology aside and got to work early building exchanges that actually work.

California, the nation's most populous state, signed up 28,000 people in the first week its exchange was operating and New York has signed more than 40,000. 

“Looking back at this one week, the response has been nothing short of phenomenal,” Peter V. Lee, executive director of Covered California, said. “We anticipated we’d have very low enrollment in the first week.”

California expects to sign more than half a million people before the open enrollment periods ends March 31. New York expects to sign more than 1 million.

In Illinois, officials said GetCoveredIllinois.gov served more than half a million page views on its first day of operations.

In Washington state, 9,452 people had been fully enrolled as of Tuesday. Another 10,000 people have completed applications for coverage from private health insurers through the exchange but have not yet paid for it.

"The number of applications we've received is a strong start to our six-month open enrollment period," said Richard Onizuka, CEO for the Washington Health Benefit Exchange. 

National data lacking

There's been a shortage of data on nationwide sign-ups, partly because the federal government's public affairs staffs are largely on furlough and not much new information is being released as a result.

In its first two days of operation, HealthCare.gov got 7 million visits, an HHS spokeswoman said a few days ago. That doesn't translate directly to sign-ups since most consumers visiting the site for the first time appeared to be gathering information about what types of coverage was available in their state.

Others were waiting by their computers as the sign-up sites went live.

"I've been waiting a year for this," said a 23-year-old actor in Los Angeles who asked that her name not be used. "I have been on my mom's policy but she is turning 65 and going on Medicare so I will be S-O-L if Wolf Blitzer gets his way."

The actor said that, besides the much higher cost of a traditional policy, she would not be able to get coverage because of a pre-existing medical condition.  

They're massing in Virginia right now, preparing for a weekend assault on Washington, D.C. Who, you ask? The British, the Taliban, the Confederate Army?

No, it's America's truckers, or at least some of them. A loose confederation of independent truckers has vowed to run huge convoys of trucks around the Capital Beltway that circles Washington, D.C., but never penetrates it, shutting the region down during the Friday rush hour and throughout the weekend.

Of course, the region is usually pretty well shut down by traffic anyway, so there's some question whether anyone will notice. And then there's the little matter of Congress, which last time we checked convenes in the Capitol, which is smack in the middle of D.C., far from the noisy, dirty Beltway, which carries I-95 and I-495 through the area.

Most Congressmen bunk near the Capitol when they're in town and few ever have occasion to take the Beltway. So it's mostly furloughed federal workers and the few million other residents of Maryland and Virginia that will feel the brunt of the truckers' wrath, if any.

"Riding for the Constitution"

What's it all about? Why, it's about the Constitution, of course, something everyone talks about lately but which few have studied. Oh, a few people manage to read the thing but it takes quite a bit of non-ideological study of the actual history of the document and its interpretation by the courts over the years to really understand it.

Driving a truck -- or shouting loudly on TV, for that matter -- doesn't leave much time for studying constitutional law, so whatever argument is being advanced is likely to be rather basic.

It's surely not high fuel prices the truckers are mad about. Prices are relatively low right now, thanks to the economy once again heading for the tank as Congress diddles with the nation's wealth. Could it be the dread Obamacare that has driven the truckers to try extreme measures?

We're not sure, quite honestly.  The truckers' website says they'll be "riding for the Constitution." Perhaps more significantly, it speculates the weekend of driving in a circle will spread into a nationwide truckers strike that will soon leave supermarket shelves empty.

Maybe that will happen about the same time the U.S. defaults on its debt. That will certainly get everything straightened out and back on track.

If you plan on flying anywhere for the Thanksgiving holiday, this might be a good time to book your flight.

Travelocity's Thanksgiving data show that the average round-trip domestic airfare this year is $415, including tax -- up nearly 7% from 2012. The online travel agency calls this the “price to beat” and recommends using it as a gauge while shopping for airfare. In a bit of good news for some travelers, Travelocity says a closer look at the most popular routes shows many prices are well under that average.

"While average airfare is up for Thanksgiving we are still seeing some of the most popular routes well under the national average," explains Courtney Scott, senior editor at Travelocity. "So if $415 is out of your price range, don't assume you can't make it home for the holidays. Check your route, be flexible on your dates and you can still find a great deal."

Getting there and paying for it

Most popular domestic routes for Thanksgiving:

What to do

Travelocity offers these tips for holiday travel:

• Book between October 8 through November 9. Travelocity's Booking Barometer says prices for Thanksgiving begin to drop during this time, and will pick back up at a steep increase beginning the week of November 10.
• Be flexible on your travel dates. Look at returning on Friday, November 29, or Tuesday, December 3, for lower fares. Returning over the weekend will most surely cost you more.
• Search alternate airports. For example, New York City is always one of the most popular holiday destinations. While LaGuardia might be the closest airport to your turkey dinner, flying instead into JFK or Newark may be worth the extra effort and could translate into big savings.
• Take the first flight of the day. Not only will the lines at security be shorter, but planes traveling earlier in the day have a better on-time performance in general. And, if your flight is canceled, you'll have the option of taking a flight later in the day.
• Pack smart and light. Look at shipping any gifts ahead of time, and try to pack only a carry on. This can help you avoid checked baggage and overweight baggage fees. In addition, if your flight is re-routed because of bad weather or delays, it'll be much easier if your luggage is with you. If you do check, don't put anything in your luggage you can't live without -- like medication, cell phone chargers or your child's favorite toy.

Not much change during the week in fixed rate mortgage (FRM) rates as tracked by Freddie Mac. Analysts say it was do to the continuing mess in Washington, which resulted in a light week of economic data releases.

The average rate for the 30-year FRM was 4.23% with an average 0.7 point for the week ending October 10, 2013, up one basis point from the previous week's 4.22$. A year ago at this time, it averaged 3.39%.

The 15-year FRM averaged 3.31% with an average 0.7 point, compared with 3.29% last week and 2.70% a year ago percent.

The 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 3.05% with an average 0.4 point, versus 3.03% from last week. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 2.73%.

The average for the 1-year Treasury-indexed ARM rose to 2.64% this week with an average 0.4 point, from 2.63% last week and 2.59% a year ago.

The slight changes in mortgage rates due in part to the government shutdown and a light week of economic data releases, according to Freddie Mac Vice President and Chief Economist Frank Nothaft. “Of the few releases,” he said, “the private sector added an estimated 166,000 jobs in September, which were fewer than the market consensus and followed a downward revision of 17,000 workers in August, according to the ADP Research Institute. The Institute for Supply Management reported a greater slowing in growth in the non-manufacturing industry in September than the market consensus forecast."

Bankrate

Meanwhile, according to Bankrate.com's weekly national survey, mortgage rates declined for a fifth consecutive week.

The benchmark 30-year FRM dipped to 4.39% from 4.41%, the average 15-year FRM held steady at 3.47%, while the larger jumbo 30-year fixed mortgage rate remained at 4.58%.

ARMs were mostly lower, with the popular 5-year rate falling 6 basis points to 3.34% and the 7-year ARM sliding to 3.68%.

Bankrate says the continuing government shutdown and the approaching debt ceiling deadline have made investors cautious. Additionally. the prospect for slower economic growth has investors moving into longer-term government and mortgage-backed bonds, bringing yields lower. That's been good for mortgage rates, which are closely related to yields on long-term government bonds.

As recently as May 1, the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 3.52%. At that time, a $200,000 loan would have carried a monthly payment of $900.32. With the average rate currently at 4.39%, the monthly payment for the same size loan would be $1,000.34 -- a difference of $100 per month.

For the second time in as many months, the Deloitte Consumer Spending Index declined in September. The index tracks consumer cash flow as an indicator of future consumer spending.

"Although the index moved down slightly last month, it remained in positive territory," said Daniel Bachman, Deloitte's senior U.S. economist. "These slight variations in economic fundamentals month-to-month during a period of economic recovery are not unusual."

The index, which is made up of four components -- tax burden, initial unemployment claims, real wages and real home prices -- fell to 3.7 this month from 4.0 last month.

"If the government shutdown is short-lived, retailers may not feel a noticeable impact, but if it persists, consumers may pause at the beginning of the holiday season," said Alison Paul, vice chairman, Deloitte LLP and Retail & Distribution sector leader. "With many retailers planning early promotions this year, shifts in consumer sentiment will likely test retailers' scenario planning techniques."

Sector performance

In the latest index, new home prices continued to rise, but the pace of growth is decelerating. Initial unemployment claims continued to fall, but real wages remain flat.

• Tax burden: The tax rate is up 6.8% from last year, and is now at 11.7%.
• Initial unemployment claims: Claims moved down 9% from the same period last year to 330,000 in the most recent month.
• Real wages: Hourly real wage growth remains slow, hovering at $8.78, which is up 0.1% from the previous month and 0.3% from last year.
• Real new home prices: Real new home prices were down 0.8% from the month prior, but moved up 4.3% from this time last year to reach approximately $109,000.

California finally got its computer system back on track, resulting in a big jump in the number of first-time claims for unemployment benefits.

U.S. government figures show initial applications soared by 66,000 during the week ending October 5 to a seasonally-adjusted total of 374,000. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com were calling for an initial claims level of 318,000.

The huge increase was largely due to California paring the big backlogs in applications caused by computer glitches in early September. The impediment to the normal processing of initial claims resulted in a temporary drop in initial claims. Those claims were finally filed properly this week, producing a large upward spike in claims.

Shutdown effect

The federal workers sitting home  as a result of the government shutdown have not been included in the initial claims tally, although some jobs done by non-federal workers that were tied to the government shutdown were lost. That accounted for about 23% of the increase in claims.

Analysts at Briefing say the majority of the impact of the federal government shutdown will begin next week. Included in the upcoming number will be workers furloughed by government contractors and the analysts say we could see the initial claims level jump to 450,000 or more as these workers apply for unemployment benefits.

The 4-week moving average, which is considered a better gauge of the labor market because it is l;ess volatil, rose by 20,000 to 325,000.

The full report can be found on the Labor Department website.

B@B Trade is recalling all lots of Slim Fortune, Lidiy and Slim Expert after laboratory analysis found the dietary supplements to contain undeclared Sibutramine, a previously approved controlled substance that was removed from the U.S. market in October 2010 for safety reasons. That makes these products unapproved new drugs.

Sibutramine is known to substantially increase blood pressure and/or pulse rate in some patients and may present a significant risk for patients with a history of coronary artery disease, congestive heart failure, arrhythmias or stroke.

The company says there have been no reports of illnesses or injuries to date in connection with these products.

The recalled products are packaged in plastic bottles as follows:

• Slim Fortune green capsules / 30 capsules per bottle
• Lidiy green capsules, / 30 capsules per bottle
• Slim Expert 30 softgels capsules per bottle.

All are marketed as a natural herb for weight loss.

The products were sold directly to individual customers in the firm's Florida, sales office and online at www.lidiy.com, www.slimfortune.com, or www.slimexpert.com. The company has discontinued distribution and sales of these products.

Consumers should not consume these products, but should return the products immediately to the place of purchase.

Consumers with questions should contact B@B Trade Inc. at 305-763-6956 or via e-mail at interincorp@yahoo.com Monday - Friday, 10:00 am - 4:00 pm, EDT.

It's not just the national parks that have been closed off and the government websites that have been taken down. The U.S. government shut down is impacting some consumers – and may impact more if it goes on – in ways that aren't immediately obvious.

The obvious consumers feeling the immediate pain are federal employees, many of whom have been furloughed. Some have been required to work with deferred pay, although Congress has voted to pay them retroactively once the shutdown has been resolved.

While park rangers and other employees at national parks are going without paychecks, the small businesses near national parks that depend on tourist dollars are another victim of the shutdown squeeze. Other businesses that deal directly with the government are facing a sudden cash crunch.

Feeling the pinch

Eastern National, a Pennsylvania organization providing inventory for national park book stores and gift shops, recently emailed vendors advising them not to ship any further orders to national park and national forest customers.

“The shutdown has required us to discontinue all buying and we have placed a hold on most payments,” the advisory said. “This is being done to ensure our long term financial health. We have adjusted our business operations until a budget resolution is achieved. We no longer have staff at stores and have reduced staffing levels at our main office.”

There could be a ripple effect here as well. Small businesses that depend heavily on government contractors are also feeling the pinch.

Social Security

Social Security field offices are open during the government shutdown, but with limited services. Hearings offices remain open to conduct hearings before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ). Social Security card centers are closed.

Social Security and Supplemental Security Income payments to beneficiaries will continue with no change in payment dates. During the shutdown the Social Security Administration says it cannot issue new or replacement Social Security cards, replace a Medicare card or issue a proof of income letter.

For investors, the shutdown and looming debt ceiling standoff has put a short-term dent in stock portfolios. However, some Wall Street analysts say the losses so far are surprisingly small, as many investors expect the market to snap back once the government reopens.

Consumers buying or selling homes have seen a slowdown in the process since the shutdown. Lenders seeking confirmation from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of a buyer's income have found the agency is unable to respond in a timely manner. The process of obtaining a VA or FHA loan has also slowed.

Scramble to keep WIC funded

At the other end of the income scale, consumers in the food aid program for Women, Infants and Children – also known as WIC – are also feeling the effects of the shutdown. The program was initially without funding last week before the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reallocated funding to cover WIC program costs for the rest of October.

In Washington, D.C., a non-profit organization called SAFE, which provides help to victims of domestic violence, says it must raise $19,000 in the next week to keep its doors open. It was preparing to receive a substantial federal grant when the shutdown put a freeze on the funding.

The shutdown, of course, was never really about spending – unlike the last shutdown in 1996. Rather, it was an attempt by a sizable group of Republican lawmakers to block or delay implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), a/k/a Obamacare which began Oct. 1. The GOP House passed funding for the government, but tied it to a blocking the ACA. The Obama Administration said that was not an item for discussion so the two sides remain at an impasse.  

Consumers plan to spend more money and shop more often this holiday season, according to the Accenture Holiday Shopping Survey. And Black Friday this year will be big – really big.

The day after Thanksgiving – the unofficial start of the holiday season – has now become a national holiday in its own right, almost like the Super Bowl. And the trend of consumers crowding into stores opening on Thanksgiving evening appears to be growing.

Forty-one percent told survey takers that they will be out shopping between 6 PM Thanksgiving Day and 5 AM on Black Friday, in hopes of getting one of the advertised door-busters. In fact, the Accenture survey suggests participation in Black Friday this year will be at a five-year high.

A waste of time?

Unless you are one of the few who actually gets one of those advertised specials, you might be better off enjoying Thanksgiving with your family and sleeping in the next day. A 2011 survey by ShopAdvisor found that Black Friday is among the worst days of the holiday shopping season, when it comes to bargains. 

The 2011 study tracked the prices of 252 toys from the first day of autumn and found that in the 54 days from Nov. 1 through Dec. 24, the day with the lowest percentage -- 46 percent -- of products on sale below their initial holiday season price was Black Friday, Nov. 25. The day with the highest percentage -- 59 percent -- of products on sale was Sunday, Nov. 13. After Thanksgiving, Thursday, Dec. 1 was the day with the next largest percentage of products on sale.

That apparently hasn't deterred this year's consumers. Fifty-five percent of shoppers say they are likely to shop on this Black Friday, compared to 53 percent in 2012, and 44 percent in 2011. However, a larger proportion of shoppers – 30 percent -- said they will do most of their Black Friday shopping online, compared to 25 percent in 2012.

Showrooming and webrooming

If the survey is an accurate predictor of the future, consumers this year will be shopping across channels, with shoppers “webrooming” as well as “showrooming.” For example, consumers will be comparing prices on their mobile phones while in store and they’ll be making purchases online, but picking up in store to avoid shipping costs.

While retailers hate showrooming, the survey suggests they will benefit from webrooming – when consumers shop for the best deal online before going to a store to buy it. Sixty-three percent said they plan to showroom while 65% plan to webroom.

Gift cards are still number one on consumer’s shopping list. The survey predicts 40% of the gift cards will be for discount retailers and 34% for restaurants. Shoppers will be spending more too.

“The average dollar spend is trending up, and we are seeing a consumer mindset shifting from ‘cautious’ to ‘sensible,’ which is good news for retailers,” said Chris Donnelly, global managing director of Accenture’s Retail practice. “However, retailers are mindful that during the 2013 Thanksgiving-Christmas shopping period, they will have six days less in which to tempt shoppers through their doors, so many will go big and go early.”

The Accenture survey projects total holiday spending will rise 11% compared to last year, with the average consumer spending $646. Shoppers will be focused on discounts and sales, with 94% of those questioned saying discounts will be important to their purchasing decisions this holiday season. That's up from 84% last year.

Best time to shop

Meanwhile, online coupon site Savings.com has analyzed deals from 25,000 retailers and predicts the best deals on electronics will come during the first two weeks of November, in advance of Black Friday. The site predicts Cyber Monday – the Monday after Thanksgiving – will be the best time to purchase apparel and accessories.

Those who wait until the last minute to stock up on holiday feasting supplies will be rewarded, the site says. In the three days before Christmas, the best discounts will be on food and wine.

"Although Black Friday and Cyber Monday are great days to score a deal this holiday season, we encourage consumers to think outside the Black Friday box and to use this calendar as a reliable shopping guide," said Loren Bendele, co-founder and President of Savings.com. "There are six fewer shopping days this calendar year, meaning the retail environment will be competitive with leading brands fighting for your dollars. While this is great news for the consumer, it will be important to sift through everything that's out there and to be confident that you're getting the best deals possible."

How much beer is in a pint? In Michigan, the correct answer is so hard to figure out, a state lawmaker has proposed a bill to fix it.  

If passed into law, House Bill 5040 would require that any bar or restaurant selling a “pint” of beer make certain that pint contains a full 16 ounces.

Sounds pretty straightforward—every elementary school in America has a curriculum requiring students, at some point, to learn “one pint equals 16 ounces.” That’s presumably what Michigan state representative Jeff Irwin, one of six Democrats co-sponsoring HB 5040, had in mind when he said “when people buy a pint and they're served less than a pint, it strikes me as sort of low-level fraud.”

Kind of flat

But HB 5040 opponents, including members of the Michigan Licensed Beverage Association, say the bill is both unneeded and based on a misunderstanding.

MLBA’s executive director, Scott Ellis, told MLive.com, a local news outlet, “We have other pressing issues right now that need to be addressed over the amount of alcohol in the pint,” and furthermore, he claimed the word “pint” is a generic term that can refer to any glass of beer, not necessarily a 16-ounce measurement.

On the other hand, HB 5040 supporters counter, anti-fraud consumer laws already cover customers in gas stations and grocery stores—whether you buy a gallon of gas or a gallon of milk, that gallon’s supposed to adhere to a specific term of liquid measurement. Same goes for pint, quart and similar terms—if a pint of buttermilk from a grocery stores is supposed to hold 16 ounces, why not hold bars and restaurants to the same standard?

By contrast, “pint” glasses in bars and restaurants can hold as little as 12 ounces, only three-quarters of a pint.

As of press time, it’s far too early to predict whether the bill will make it into law, or just slowly evaporate in the legislature.

A major Salmonella outbreak traced to Foster Farms chicken processors in California has sickened at least 278 people in 17 states, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said. At least 42% of those infected have been hospitalized but so far no deaths have been reported.

Most of the victims -- 77% -- are from California.

The strain in question is called "Heidelberg" -- yes, just like Breaking Bad -- and is resistant to several of the most commonly prescribed antibiotics, which adds to the risk of hospitalization and complications.

Oddly enough, the infected chicken is not being recalled. That's because Salmonella is so common in today's factory-raised chickens that it's not considered unusual or illegal. As the CDC puts it: "It is not unusual for raw poultry from any producer to have Salmonella bacteria. CDC and USDA-FSIS recommend consumers follow food safety tips to prevent Salmonella infection from raw poultry produced by Foster Farms or any other brand.

Instead of recalling the chicken, Foster Farms said it " has retained national experts in epidemiology and food safety technology to assess current practices and identify opportunities for further improvement."

“Salmonella is naturally occurring in poultry and can be fully eradicated if raw product is properly handled and fully cooked,” said Dr. Robert O’Connor, the company’s food safety chief and head veterinarian, said in a statement. “All poultry producers strive to reduce bacterial presence, including Salmonella. We take food safety very seriously. When the incidence of illnesses linked to Salmonella increased, we wanted to know why and we have worked quickly to identify and implement additional controls."

What to do

Basically, consumers are on their own when it comes to protecting themselves against Salmonella in chicken.

Raw poultry must be handled and cooked in accordance with the safe handling guidelines on all packages of chicken. These include: keeping the product refrigerated or frozen thawing in refrigerator or microwave keeping raw meat and poultry separate from other foods washing working surfaces including cutting boards, utensils and hands after touching raw meat or poultry keeping hot foods hot and refrigerating leftovers immediately or discarding.

All fresh poultry products should be cooked to an internal temperature of 165°F as measured by a meat thermometer.

Back in the day, people got excited about cars and manufacturers obliged by hanging all manner of ridiculous bling on their new models -- most notably, the huge fins that graced American cars in the 1960s.

These days, nobody much cares about cars. Instead they get excited about iPads and smartphones. So manufacturers go to great pains to differentiate their portable device from their nearly identical competitors.

The latest craze? Flexible screens. Actually, we're not quite there yet although LG says it will soon have a flexible display for smartphones. You might be able to curl it around your wrist. Or even your neck. 

But Samsung is taking no chances. The company once accused of copying Apple's iPhone now is determined to be the first out of the gate with whatever innovation strikes consumers' fancy at the moment. Its latest effort is the Galaxy Round -- featuring a 5.7-inch concave screen mounted in a curved casing.

Why would you want this? Well, take a look at the palm of your hand. It's not flat, is it? No, of course not. It's a little bit curved. So, the theory is the Round will snuggle more cozily in your palm than that dumb old flat iPhone.

Don't get too excited yet though. The Round is currently available only in Korea and costs nearly US$1,000. Whether it will ever be offered for sale in the U.S. remains to be seen.

If you're really longing for something curvy, you could probably find an old Blackberry Curve at a flea market, even though -- despite the name -- the Curve wasn't really curvy.

There may be a partial shutdown of the government, but the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) doesn't care. It wants your money.

In a recently issued bulletin, the tax agency is “reminding” people who requested a six-month extension to file their tax return care that a check is due by October 15.

According to the IRS, “The current lapse in federal appropriations does not affect the federal tax law, and all taxpayers should continue to meet their tax obligations as normal.” In other word, keep sending it in.

Many of the more than 12 million individuals who requested an automatic six-month extension earlier this year have yet to file their Form 1040 for 2012.

Not all are affected

While Oct. 15 is the last day for most people to file, some groups still have more time, including members of the military and others serving in Afghanistan or other combat zone localities who typically have until at least 180 days after they leave the combat zone to both file returns and pay any taxes due.

Also, people with extensions in parts of Colorado affected by severe storms, flooding, landslides and mudslides also have more time -- until Dec. 2, 2013, to file and pay.

Shutdown reminders

Taxpayers are encouraged to file their returns electronically using IRS e-file or the Free Filesystem to reduce the chance of errors.

Taxpayers can file their tax returns electronically or on paper. Payments accompanying paper and e-filed tax returns will be accepted and processed as the IRS receives them. Tax refunds will not be issued until normal government operations resume.

IRS operations are limited during the shutdown, with live assistors on the phones and at Taxpayer Assistance Centers unavailable. However, IRS.gov and most automated toll-free telephone applications remain operational.

Tax software companies, tax practitioners and Free File remain available to assist with taxes during this period.

Go ahead -- admit it. You sneak snacks between meals. In fact, snacking has become nearly universal behavior in the U.S., with an estimated 97% of us consuming at least one snack per day.

The next time you get an attack of the munchies, you might want to consider grabbing a handful of almonds. A new study published in the October issue of the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that participants who ate 1.5 ounces of dry-roasted, lightly salted almonds every day experienced reduced hunger and improved dietary vitamin E and monounsaturated ("good") fat intake without increasing body weight.

That's important, given the increasing snacking frequency and snack size among U.S. adults, combined with continued increases in obesity rates and widespread nutrient shortfalls. While snacking reportedly increases risk for weight gain, but this broad generalization may mask different responses to select foods.

Snacking and weight

The newly published four-week study, led by researchers at Purdue University, investigated the effects of almond snacking on weight and appetite.

The study included 137 adults at increased risk for type 2 diabetes. The participants were divided into five groups: a control group that avoided all nuts and seeds, a breakfast meal group and lunch meal group that ate 1.5 ounces of almonds each with their daily breakfast or lunch, and a morning snack group and afternoon snack group that each consumed 1.5 ounces of almonds between their customary meals. All almond snacks were eaten within approximately two hours after their last meal and two hours before their next meal.

The participants were not given any other dietary instruction other than to follow their usual eating patterns and physical activity. Compliance to consuming almonds was monitored through self-reported dietary intake assessments and fasting vitamin E plasma levels.

Despite consuming approximately 250 additional calories per day from almonds, participants did not increase the total number of calories they ate and drank over the course of the day or gain weight over the course of the four-week study.

Good option

"This research suggests that almonds may be a good snack option, especially for those concerned about weight," says Richard Mattes, PhD, MPH, RD, distinguished professor of nutrition science at Purdue and the study's principal investigator. "In this study, participants compensated for the additional calories provided by the almonds so daily energy intake did not rise and reported reduced hunger levels and desire to eat at subsequent meals, particularly when almonds were consumed as a snack."

Almonds have also previously been shown to increase satiety in both normal weight and overweight subjects. This may be attributed to almonds' monounsaturated fat (13 grams/ounce), protein (6 grams/ounce) and fiber (4 grams/ounce) content, but further research is needed to better understand the underlying mechanisms.

Additionally, a recent study measuring digestibility found that whole almonds contain 20% fewer calories than the Nutrition Facts Panel states, suggesting that because of their rigid cell structure, not all calories are available for absorption. Further research is needed to better understand how this technique for calculating calories could potentially affect the calorie count of other foods.

The new study suggests snacking can be a weight-wise strategy, depending upon the foods consumed. The combined positive effects of daily almond consumption seen in participants on hunger, appetite control, and vitamin E and monounsaturated fat intake without any impact on body weight suggests almonds are a smart snack choice that can help support a healthy weight.

Most of us have had episodes when, apparently for no reason, we suddenly get dizzy. Because it's usually just a quickly passing thing, we don't think much about it.

But researchers at Johns Hopkins have. They say they've pinpointed a site in a highly developed area of the brain that plays an important role in the subconscious recognition of which way is straight up and which way is down.

That finding, described online in the journal Cerebral Cortex, may help account for some causes of spatial disorientation and dizziness, and offer targets for treating the feelings of unsteadiness and "floating" people experience when the brain fails to integrate input from the body's senses properly.

Source of the problem

Disabling dizziness can be a symptom of damage to the inner ear or other senses such as vision. But in many cases, the problem instead appears to stem from a disruption of the processes in the brain that translate input coming from the inner ears about the pull of gravity and the eyes about our visual sensations into what is known as upright perception.

The human brain has an automatic capacity to know which way is up even when our heads and bodies are askew. Studies of people in zero-gravity conditions suggest that sensing gravity plays a role in the perception of upright and spatial orientation.

"Our brain has this amazing way of knowing where we are in space, whether we are upright or tilted at an angle, even if it is completely dark and we can't see anything around us," says Amir Kheradmand, M.D., a neurology instructor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine who conducted the research. "This study suggests there's a small area of neural tissue in the parietal cortex substantially involved in this ability, giving us a place to start thinking about how we may be able to treat people with disorienting dizziness."

Right-brain focus

Kheradmand says he and his team focused their attention on the right parietal cortex because studies in stroke victims with balance problems suggested that damage to that part of the brain was centrally involved in upright perception.

Recruiting eight healthy people for the study, the Johns Hopkins team placed each person individually in a dark room and showed them lines illuminated on a screen. The researchers instructed them to report the orientation of the lines by rotating a dial to the right, left or straight.

The study participants then received what is known as TMS (trans-cranial magnetic stimulation), which painlessly and noninvasively delivers electromagnetic currents to precise locations in the brain that can temporarily disrupt the function of the targeted area. TMS is considered safe and is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat some patients with depression by stimulating nerve cells in the region of the brain involved in mood control and depression.

For this part of the experiments, each subject in the study had an electromagnetic coil placed against the scalp in a 2-centimeter wide location across the right parietal lobe, behind the ear. At the identified location, the subjects got 600 electromagnetic pulses over the course of 40 seconds. After each 40-second session, they were again asked to show researchers which way each illuminated line on the screen was oriented. The results wore off quickly and the subjects could again be tested on another day.

Ultimately, the researchers found that each participant reported that his or her sense of being upright was skewed in the same way after TMS in the same spot in the parietal cortex: the supramarginal gyrus.

Treatment possibilities

Kheradmand says the study's results raise the possibility that TMS could be used to treat chronic dizziness. "If we can disrupt upright perception in healthy people using TMS, it might also be possible to use TMS to fix dysfunction in the same location in people with dizziness and spatial disorientation," he says.

"It's fascinating that we've gotten to the point that we can show that a subconscious perception can be altered using this simple, noninvasive technique," he adds. "We're excited that this could someday be a key to helping people who have dizziness and spatial disorientation to feel better." 

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has ordered Mortgage Master, Inc. and Washington Federal to pay civil penalties for violating the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA), which requires mortgage lenders to accurately collect and report data about home mortgage loans.

Mortgage Master will pay $425,000 and Washington Federal will pay $34,000 in civil penalties. 

“When financial institutions report inaccurate information, it obstructs the purpose of the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act and makes it more difficult for the CFPB to discover and stop discriminatory lending,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. “Today we are sending a strong signal that no mortgage lending institution – whether bank or nonbank – should be able to mislead the public with erroneous data.”

In 1975, Congress passed the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act requiring certain mortgage lenders to make loan information available to the public. Banks, savings associations, credit unions, and mortgage companies must disclose information about home mortgage loan applications, including information about the applications they reject. 

Mortgage Master

According to the CFPB’s Consent Order, a CFPB exam found that Mortgage Master, a nonbank headquartered in Walpole, Mass., had significant data errors in the 21,015 mortgage loan applications it reported for 2011. The CFPB is requiring Mortgage Master to:

• Pay a civil penalty of $425,000;
• Correct and resubmit its 2011 HMDA data; and
• Develop and implement an effective HMDA compliance management system to prevent future violations.

Paul Anastos, President of Mortgage Master, said the CFPB's findings were "related to administrative errors in our reporting system, and the audit confirmed that no borrowers were harmed in any way, nor did any borrowers need to be refunded.” 

"We have addressed the system issues that caused the reporting errors and we are in the process of verifying the accuracy of all data through the end of second quarter of 2013,” Anastos said.

Washington Federal 

According to the CFPB’s Consent Order, a CFPB exam found that Washington Federal, a bank headquartered in Seattle, Wash., had significant errors in the 5,785 mortgage loan applications it reported for 2011. The CFPB is requiring Washington Federal to:

• Pay a civil penalty of $34,000;
• Correct and resubmit its 2011 HMDA data; and
• Develop and implement an effective HMDA compliance management system to prevent future violations.

After dropping in the previous week for the first time in three weeks, mortgage applications bounced back during the week ending October 4, with a gain of 1.3%

In its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey, the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) also reported applications for refinancing increased 3%, putting the Refinance Index at its highest level since the week ending August 9.

The refinance share of mortgage activity totals 64% of total applications -- up 1% from the previous week, while the adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity was unchanged at 6%.

Interest rates

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages (FRMs) with conforming loan balances ($417,000 or less) decreased to 4.42%, the lowest rate since mid-June, from 4.49%, with points increasing to 0.44 from 0.34 (including the origination fee) for 80% loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year FRMs with jumbo loan balances (greater than $417,000) decreased to 4.45%, the lowest rate since mid-June, from 4.53%, with points decreasing to 0.21 from 0.22 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year FRMs backed by the FHA decreased to 4.15%, the lowest rate since mid-June, from 4.21%, with points increasing to 0.37 from 0.35 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 15-year FRMs decreased to 3.52%, the lowest rate since mid-June, from 3.55%, with points increasing to 0.34 from 0.33 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs decreased to 3.25%, the lowest rate since mid-June, from 3.26%, with points increasing to 0.29 from 0.28 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week. 

The survey covers over 75% of all U.S. retail residential mortgage applications.